As a reminder of our hope as Catholics a few months before Easter, this is a sermon, once given by St. Augustine, Taken from the Fathers of the Church Pamphlets, formerly printed by Mary, Immaculate Queen of the Universe Center, in a pamphlet first published around 1958.
- Throughout these days, as your Charity recalls, the passages from the Gospel pertaining to the Resurrection of the Lord are solemnly read. For now one of the Evangelists could pass in silence over the Passion or the Resurection. Inasmuch as the Lord Jesus did many things, all the Evangelists did not relate all His work – one related some things; another, other incidents – nevertheless, there is complete harmony in the truth. John the Evangelist mentions the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ did many things which have been written down by no one. Such tremendous things were done as needed to be done then; such tremendous deeds were related as need to be read now. To show that all the Evangelists said nothing contradictory on those subjects which all mention and none omit, that is, on the Passion and Resurrection of Christ, is truly a laborious undertaking; but, because some persons have thought that the Evangelists were at variance with one another since thy were of different dispositions, for that reason I have secured assistance from those who, with the help of Bod, were able to prove that there is no lack of harmony among the Evangelists. However, as I have said, if I should make this information known to you and If I should wish to discuss this problem in public, the majority of listeners would be overwhelmed with weariness before they would grasp the knowledge of the truth. But I know that your faith, that is, I know the faith of this entire assembly and of those who are not here today but who are, nevertheless, faithful; I know that the faith of these people in regard to the veracity of the Evangelists is so well grounded that they do not need my exposition. He who knows how to defend these arguments is more learned, not necessarily more faithful. He has faith and he has the ability to defend the faith. Another may not have the ability, the opportunity, ir the training which fits one to defend the faith, but he has the faith itself. He who knows how to defend the faith is necessary for the wavering, not for the believers; for, in the defense of the faith the wounds of doubt or of unbelief are healed. Therefore, he who defends the faith is a good doctor; but there is no disease of unbelief among you. How can he cure a disease which you do not have? He knows how to give a remedy; but you have no sickness. ‘It is not the healthy who need a physician, but they who are sick.[Matthew 9:12]
- Nevertheless, there is no point in keeping silent about matters which can be quickly discussed and conveniently heard in the time at our disposal, Many persons call into question many points about the Resurrection, of which the Lord furnished us and example in His own case so that we might know what to hope for at the end of the world in regard to our own bodies. Some do this in good faith; others, in unbelief. Those who enter the discussion in good faith wish to gain a better knowledge of how to answer the unbelievers. On the other hand, those who dispute through unbelief argue to the detriment of their own souls by opposing the power of the Omnipotent, saying: “How is it possible for a dead person to rise again?’ I answer: ‘ It is God who does this, and do you say that it cannot be done? I do not ask you to show me a Christian or a Jew, but to show me any pagan, any worshiper of idols and server of demons, who does not admit that God is omnipotent. He can deny that Christ exists; he cannot deny that God is omnipotent. Therefore, asif I were speaking to the pagan, I say that the very same God whome you believe to be omnipotent is the One who raises the dead; and, if you say that it cannot be done, you detract from the Omnipotent. However, if you believe that He is omnipotent, why do you reject the statement I make?’
- If I were to say that the body would rise again to be hungry and thirsty, to be sick and to suffer, to be subject to corruption, you would be right in refusing to believe me. True, the flesh now suffers these needs and afflictions. And why? Sin is the reason. We have all sinnd in one man, and we have all been born unto corruption. Sin is the cause of all our evils. As a matter of fact, it is not without reason that men suffer all these evils. God is just; God is omnipotent; in no way would we suffer these evils if we did not deserve them, But, since we were committed to these punishments to which we are subject because of our sins, our Lord Jesus Christ wished to be involved in our punishments without any sin on His part. By enduring the penalty without any guilt, He cancelled both the guilt and the penalty. He cancelled the guilt by forgiving sinsins; the penalty, by rising from the dead. He promised this and He wished us to walk in hope; let us persevere, and we shall come to the reward. The flesh will rise incorruptible; the flesh will rise without defect, without blemish, without mortality, without burden, and without weight. What now brings pain to you will then be your glory. Therefore, if it is good to have an incorruptible body, why do we wish to despair that Bod will do this?
- The philosophers of this world who were great and learned, and superior to the rest, believed that the human soul is immortal. Not only did they hold this belief, but they supported their assertions by as many arguments as possible and they left to posterity thes arguments in writing, The books exist and are read. I said that these philosophers were better in comparison with those who were inferior, because there have been philosophers who declared that no life remained for man after his death. The former are certainly to be preferred to the latter; and, although they deviated from the truth in many respects, yet they were better in proportion as they were superior in approaching more closely to the truth. The philosophers, therefore, who thought and declared that human souls are immortal, investigated, as far as human powers permitted, the causes for the evils of men, and for the troubles and mistakes of mortals, and they stated that, so far as they could see, some sins or other had been committed in a previous life in punishment for which the soul acquired bodies, as it were, a prison. (See Plato. Phaedrus 245; Cicero Tusculanae disputationes 1.53-55; De re publica 6.26,28-29) Then they raised the question as to what would take place after man died. On this problem they expended all their talents, striving as well as they could to give a reason to men, to themselves and to others, and they said that, when the unclean souls of men who had lived badly in the worst vices departed from their bodies, immediately they wen into other bodies and were now paying the penalties which we observe in these bodies. They added, however, that when the souls which had lived well went forth from their bodies, they proceeded to the highest places in the heavens and there rested amid the stars and the brilliant lights and all the heavenly places of seclusion, unmindful of their past evils; but that they were happy to return again to bodies and to suffer these trials once more. The philosophers wished to point out this difference between the souls of sinners and the souls of the just: that when they souls of the sinners went forth from their bodies, they were immediately placed in other bodies; but that the souls of the just remained in repose for a long time, not, however, forever, and that they again took delight in bodies, and from the heights of heaven, after so much justice, wreaked havoc upon those evils.
- Truly great philosophers made that statement; the philosophers of the world could discover nothing more than that. Hence, concerning them our Scriptures say: ‘Has not God turned to foolishness the “wisdom” of this world? If the wisdom, then how much more so the foolishness? If the wisdom of this world is foolishness in the eyes of God, then how far from God is the true foolishness of the world? There is, however, a certain foolishness of this world which has led to God, concerning which the Apostle says: ‘Since, in God’s wisdom, the world did not come to know God by “wisdom,” it pleased God, by the foolishness of our preaching, to save those who believe.’ And he continues: ‘For the Jews ask for signs, and the Greeks look for “wisdom”; but we, for our part, preach a crucified Christ – to the Jews indeed a stumbling-block and to the Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greek, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God.’ (1Cor. 1:20-25).
The Lord Christ, the Wisdom of God, has come; the heavens resound; let frogs cease their croaking. That which Truth has said is true. It is clear that He said the human race is in evil straits on account of sin. But he who has believed in Him who was placed as Mediator between God and men (a just Man midway between a just God and unjust men, possessing His humanity from below and His justice from above, and, on that account, placed midway; having one nature from this region and the other from that, because if H were completely divine, He would not belong here and if He were completely human, he would lie here with us and would not be midway); he, therefore, who has believed in such a Mediator and has lived faithfully and well, will go forth from his body and will be at rest; afterwards, in truth, he will receive is body, not for torment, but for glory; and he will live with God for all eternity. There is nothing to entice him to return, because he has his body with him. Therefore, my dear brethren, since I have set before you today what is held by the philosophers of this world whose wisdom God rejected as true foolishness, tomorrow with the help of God I shall give you my explanation.
The follow on sermon is a three parter the first of which I will present in my next blog with the rest of them not necessarily following consecutively.
Leave a Reply